As we begin to debate the possibility, a department of justice criminal investigation may be warranted in respect to the conduct and actions of George W. Bush and senior members of his administration. To my thinking the abuse, torture and killing of children seem to stand out as the most morally repugnant allegations, and as fate would have it, they seem be the charges for which we have the best evidence to indict and obtain conviction.
A topic more or less ignored by the main stream media during the course of the war on terror, Few Americans are even aware President Bush authorized rendition and detentions of children as enemy combatants. We even have documented incidents when they were simply young family members of high profile terror suspects and the want was to use the children as leverage to obtain cooperation, information and confessions.
The mind bending numbers were supplied by the Bush administration itself to the United Nations in 2008 to counter claims of even higher estimates, Some NGO’s and human rights groups were saying the United States was responsible for the detention and disappearance of ten thousand children in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The folks at the white house assured the United Nations the figure was more in the 2,500 range and it could account for most of them, paper work gets lost sometimes I guess, but they were sticking by the twenty five hundred figure come hell or high water.
In an episode right out of the popular but fictional series 24, Jack Bauer snatches a couple kids to obtain information from a terrorist, George Bush wasn’t pretending, he really did order his people to encourage Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s cooperation and confession by “detaining and interrogating†the terrorists two children ages 7 and 9, of course, George Bush still insists the lawyers at Justice told him everything he did was legal and no one was ever tortured on his watch. I speculate even Americans who are comfortable with the torture of suspected terrorists to gain information do not support the use of it on children.
In Afghanistan alone 800 boys, between the ages of 10 and 15 felt to differing degree the embrace of vice president Cheney’s enhanced interrogation policy. Reliable reports tell us 64 children were sent to Guantánamo bay, some may still be there, of course after six or seven years they are not children anymore are they.
We can all agree Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was a terrorist, but how George Bush and Dick Cheney ever arrived at a reality that made them think they could possibly convince a jury of their peers, they were justified in the abuse of the man’s children is something I lack the intellect to wrap my mind around.
Most Americans have yet to see the “special†videos form Abu Ghraib, the ones that show American guards and a girl of 12 or 13 screaming in vain for her brother held in another cell to help her while she is stripped naked and beaten.
The Iraqi journalist Suhaib Badr-Addin al reports he witnessed a very ill 15-year-old forced to run up and down the slabs at Abu Ghraib with two heavy cans of water, beaten whenever he stopped. Stripped naked and doused with cold water when he collapsed.
And then we have the case of General Hamid Zabar another recipient of vice president Cheney’s want to encourage cooperation and confession through the implementation of “enhanced interrogations†They decided the most effective technique was to order the arrest of his 16-year-old son, Soldiers were dispatched to find the boy, he was stripped naked, and after drenching him with mud and water, drove him around in the open back of a truck in the cold of the January night. Then they brought him naked and on the verge of death to his father to encourage cooperation and confession.
One wonders, how exactly members of the Bush administration intend to defend against incontrovertible evidence of children coerced into confessions, denied access to lawyers while exculpatory evidence was suppressed should they themselves ever be brought to trial, Open courts that adhere to the rule of law, where they will enjoy the very rights they denied so many others.
In his exit interviews George W. Bush was never asked about the rendition, detention and abuse of children in American-run prisons in the “war on terror.†It seems time we begin to question, investigate and hold accountable those who are arguably responsible for the most egregious type of war crimes the civilized world has on the books, the abuse and death of children, Youngsters who should never have been detained in the first place.
That’s my view, yours may be different
12 users commented in " The Torture of Children under George W. Bush "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackCertainly being detained in a prison is not as severe as 6, 7, 8 year old kids being used as suicide bombers all for the sake of martydom. Your intellect is only surpassed by your guts to flaunt your stupidity.
Flash said “Your intellect is only surpassed by your guts to flaunt your stupidity”. I would as a rule give you points for being pithy in a half wit sort of way
You suggest putting 6,7, and 8 year olds in prison is a good thing which suggest you held a prominent position in the prior administration
Being a country known for torturing kids and even adults is a good recruitment tool for terrorist. Professional interrogators know how to elicit information that is not tainted with torture, where one will say anything to make it stop. Torture has been shown to be unreliable.
If you intend to quote me, do it correctly. I did not suggest that “putting 6, 7, and 8 year olds in prison is a good thing.” No, thanks, not seeking points.
If America were invaded and completely dominated, by the Chinese say, would you kill the children of the Chinese to try to get the Chinese to leave your country? If your home was taken and given to the families of the Chinese oppressors would you be angry? If your family has been murdered, your home destroyed, your job non-existent and you have no hope for anything good in your life except more bombs raining down on you and even though you have no weapons and are facing a vastly superior army would you still fight? With every breath in you?
Or do you hate America and would give up at the first sign of discomfort? Are you not a patriot? Would you not fight to defend your home? Well, if you are a true patriot you would fight in any way you can to protect your way of life, what you believe in, and what you hold sacred. Now imagine those dirty commie Chinese are forcing everyone to become Atheist, which as every good Sunday School student knows is the official state religion of China. Well at least you have to be Atheist if you want to vote or be a citizen. At this point would view the invaders as the vilest creatures on the face of the planet and wouldn’t you do everything in your power to kill the invaders and drive them out of your homeland? Or maybe you would give up and just lay down and die but the point is anyone who loves their country would fight, even a losing battle. If they are facing a hugely superior military force they will do what they have to, if that’s strapping a bomb to their chests then so be it. Think about it, that’s how desperate they are! They have nothing left but to kill themselves and maybe a bunch of us in the deal too.
So, who can really blame the “terrorists?” After watching the mass genocide the Jews just exercised on Gaza I sure can’t. And after we illegally invaded a country because our leader was crazy and we did nothing to stop him can we really blame anyone if they attack us? I mean we’ve made it so they HAVE to attack us because they know we’ll attack them without provocation. We’ve made is so when our guys get captured they WILL be tortured and not with any of that baby torture we hear about, no, I’m talking the real torture we do in places like Egypt where silly things like morals and justice won’t get in the way.
Now before some America/freedom hating a-hole republi-tard starts calling me a terrorist loving pink-o commie atheist I should say I do not support murder bombing in any way, I’m just saying I understand them, but I don’t support the murder of anyone, even the guilty. Which brings up a good point, is anyone really innocent? If you stand by as children are knowingly murdered by our own government and you do nothing to stop it aren’t you just as guilty? And by association should YOUR child be safe from attack? If I’m sitting in a bombed out shack holding the stumps of what used to be my child’s arms then I’m going to say your child isn’t safe; anywhere, anytime. If I’m that guy I’ve lost all ability to think rationally, you’ve just killed my child and I will kill your child in return. So now I go kill your baby and someone on the other side says, “They can’t get away with that! I’ll go kill their babies to show them what it’s like.” Ad infinitum…
We’ve already show we’ll ignore the Geneva Convention if it suites us so why should anyone play by our rules? We’ll just change them as soon as they don’t suit our needs anymore; like Cheney did on a daily basis.
America has no moral authority and the only way to get it back is to arrest the crime syndicate lead by the terrorist George W. Bush and the traitor Dick Cheney.
Rather you love him or hate him Bush has to be the easiest president in history to make fun of. There has been an outpouring of art work done in relation to George Bush based on a wide variety of issues. I compiled the funniest images of Former president Bush from artists around the world at, Best of Bush. There are some truly inspired funny animations there there is even one with him smoking a glass water pipe. In the end how would you define Bush’s presidency, comedy or tragedy, I mean if you had to pick one:)
While Banks control the FICO score thru other organization, Banks can drive up the cost of financing interest ! Nice scam, the organized crime has gone from Mobsters with guns to polite mobsters with suites and pens. No real change, Our country is being targeted for destruction by the very banks you’re giving the people’s treasure. The FICO score is a polite way to discriminate and control our lives as they rape and pillage America with a pen. Our politicians cant be that stupid, so they must be bought and paid for.What hope can there be for us? NONE.!! I’m no economist but from the looks of things ether are any of you. Its doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see corruption is real and alive and well.
Bush is a criminal, what else do you need to know?
All religion is a Money and control scam, wake up delusional people, If there is a GOD none has EVER SEEN HIM. Its funny how GOD and his church dint know the world was round…Nice one.Ooopps People are so easy to fool, why? Because they have been lying to us from day 1, get real wake up.
Being a country known for torturing kids and even adults is a good recruitment tool for terrorist. We now are the Terror of the world as we buddy up with Israel that is doing the same, nice friends nice ideas, Im sure the world is looking on in favor..Do on to other as you want done to you, exept when its in our best interest not to ? haha waoo
Flash, are you suggesting that since Muslim extremists use children as suicide bombers, that justifies American abuse of children in lesser ways? You need to be very, very careful about throwing around the word “stupidity.” By the way, how old are you, and do you meet the guidelines for posting on this site? Seriously, I’m wondering.
psburton–I haven’t heard any of this, but I will check out your links. I have read you before and found you to be reliable, so far as an outsider can detect. Most of the criticisms of you posted here sidestep the main issues you brought up, and the analogies are not logical applications to any of your points. Keep up your good work. You seem to unearth a lot of things that the rest of us miss, including me. –Mark Mercer
Think about it every thing we know or have learned has been past down. I believe a whole lot of people can not even think for them self.Once a person steps back and really opens their mind to all possibilities then and only then can you see what is really happening in this world.Everything is a lie from education,history,doctors,cancer,religion,environment. We have been brainwashed and it is so easy to see.So what ever you are arguing about is totally stupid.our life as we know it is a lie and until you can see this and stop all of the bickering about stupid things that will never change because they will not let things change.Set your minds free and realize who is to blame and start teaching your people how to really be free.Freedom is inside of you if you can see through the game.This is a chess game and some of you do not even know how to play chess. If the few people that are aware of whats really happening can not get help from all the rest then I truly hope they can look their family,friends and children in the eyes and tell them why they did not could not or would not help to make a change.STOP BEING SCARED.BEING SCARED OF ANYTHING IS WHAT THEY TAUGHT AND WHAT THEY WANTED AND IT IS THE EXACT KIND OF CHESS MOVE THAT THEY HAVE BEEN MAKING FROM THE BEGINNING OF TIME.
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